Given my reference to psychosynthesis in last Monday’s post I thought it worth republishing this sequence.
Towards the end of the previous post I noted that the Transactional Analysis concept of the Somatic Child[1] whose being is largely confined to ‘bodily functions and reactions’ maps closely onto aspects of Assagioli’s Lower Unconscious[2] with its focus on ‘fundamental drives and primitive urges.’ However, there is far more to say about the way our bodies shape and influence our minds. Peter Levine’s book on trauma, In an Unspoken Voice explores some of the most telling aspects of this relationship, spelling out its important implications. So, let us have a closer look at the implications of a slightly expanded version of the diagram.
Levine on the Body
I have dealt, albeit briefly, with some aspects of how understanding our bodies better helps us heal our traumatic wounds, so I won’t be dwelling on that here. My focus will be more on giving a sense of Levine’s more general perspective on the body-mind relationship.
He understands and accepts the top-down aspect:[3]
In the final analysis, for better or for worse, we cannot escape the fact that we are constrained by our brain’s influences and operations on our bodies.
However, he is also keen to point out that this is in fact a two-way street:[4]
Less flattering to our egocentrism, [a] (r)evolutionary “bottom-up” perspective focuses on an archaic, homeostatic, survival function as the template of neural organisation and consciousness.
In the same way as McGilchrist’s book The Master & his Emissary argues cogently for a coherent and properly balanced relationship between the two halves of the brain, Levine is arguing, in a degree of detail I am not going to attempt to reproduce here, for a similar constructive balance between three different parts of the brain. He explains, in all the evidence he quotes at this point, (page 206 – my inserts in italics) that when ‘the brain stem’s reptilian and rhythmic needs (brain system 1), the limbic system’s need for emotional connection (brain system 2), and the neocortex’s need to hear consistent calming words converge (brain system 3), [are] all met’ we are in balance.
If there is a significant breakdown in this inter-relationship, massive disruptions to rational behaviour can occur.
He makes an interesting observation that I didn’t see coming:[5]
Our tendency is to identify with our thoughts to such an extent that we confuse them with reality; we believe that we are our thoughts.
This sounds so close to the idea of disidentification, explored in the previous post, that it seems inevitable he would now start talking about separating consciousness from its contents by a process some call reflection. However, he sees the solution instead as lying in developing a greater awareness of our body, and describes an exercise which seeks to do precisely that. It’s a kind of kinaesthetic mindfulness, involving for example[6] ‘[w]hile keeping your eyes closed, slowly contract the hand… into a fist; then once again open it. With the eyes still closed, focus all your attention on this opening and closing as you repeat the movement.’
He feels that[7] ‘rather than automatically reacting to . . . our instincts, we can explore them mindfully, through the vehicle of sensate awareness. To be embodied… means that we are guided by our instincts, while simultaneously having the opportunity to be self-aware of that guidance.’
Without this awareness we will continue to do violence not just to ourselves but to the planet:[8]
Without access to the sentient body nature becomes something out there to be controlled and dominated. Disembodied, we are not a part of nature, graciously finding our humble place within its embrace.
Interestingly, this idea of the need for more humility in our relationship with nature is also forcefully endorsed by Bahá’u’lláh (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Wilmette, Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988, page 44):
Every man of discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which is the source of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement and power is, as ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden beneath the feet of all men. There can be no doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is cleansed and sanctified from all pride, arrogance, and vainglory….
In the end, for Levine,[9] ‘[t]he balanced attention to sensation, feeling, cognition and an élan vital (life energy) remains the emergent therapeutic future for transforming the whole person.’
There is much of value in the case he puts for an appropriate and balanced awareness of the body as well as the mind. His arguments enrich our understanding of experience. However, for me he takes a step in the wrong direction by discounting the spiritual as a transcendent force to be reckoned with at the other end of our mind’s spectrum. While he accepts that people have spiritual experiences, he sees them as essentially bi-products of our embodiment: as one of his chapters puts it ‘we’re just a bunch of animals.’
A Spiritual Dimension
There are many posts on his blog that point towards the evidence for a spiritual dimension to reality. I won’t be rehearsing all of that just now. Here I’m going to remain focused on the life enhancing value of a strong transcendent spiritual perspective. Before I look in more detail at Assagioli’s take on this, it’s perhaps worth quoting a different source from the literature on Near Death Experiences (NDEs).
Kenneth Ring and Evelyn Valarino, in their book, Lessons from the Light[10] describe the impact of an NDE as leading to ‘an increased sense of self worth, the loss of the fear of death, an unshakable awareness of the unity of all life, a commitment to environmental activism on behalf of the earth, a thirst for knowledge, and… the importance of helping others.’
Of equal interest is their analysis of what they consider to be the three categories into which an NDE’s impacts on a person’s life divide.[11] The first category is what they term ‘the beatific vision.’ It is through this that the person ‘realises the perfection of the universe and, because one is not separate from the universe but an indispensable and integral part of it, one’s own perfection as well.’ What struck me immediately upon re-reading this was how it mirrored our deep connection with the earth at the lower physical level, as described by Levine.
Their second category is comprised of ‘earthly realisations.’ Most of this list was mentioned in my quotation from page 9, but also now includes, on the basis of a consideration of all the NDE’s on file, ‘expressing empathic love and concern for others,’ and ‘the need to turn away from a competitive lifestyle or one based on material acquisition.’
‘Personal revelation’ is their third category, where the lessons learned are ‘particularised to the needs and circumstances of the NDEr.’
This last is interesting for a group of reasons. People are inspired ‘to live more authentic lives, more in keeping with their previously dormant gifts and propensities.’ Each individual is able to ‘glimpse something of his or her true self and its vocation in the world.’ Ring and Valarino believe ‘that this authentic or true self’ is ‘something that is the Light’s function to disclose to the individual.’ They also speak of a ‘false self.’ These two selves may correspond at least in part to the Higher Self and the Conscious Self of Psychosynthesis.
When I read this I was reminded of the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when he explained how dark the consequences can be if we fail to follow the promptings of our soul:[12]
. . . if the spiritual qualities of the soul, open to the breath of the Divine Spirit, are never used, they become atrophied, enfeebled, and at last incapable; whilst the soul’s material qualities alone being exercised, they become terribly powerful.
Ring and Valarino describe the false self as ‘socially constructed.’ Again the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were ringing in my ears at this point. In Some Answered Questions (Chapter 57) He describes us as possessing three kinds of character: ‘ the innate character, the inherited character, and the acquired character.’ The inherited character is morally neutral and has its main impact upon our health. Not so the other two. He said our ‘capacity is of two kinds: natural capacity and acquired capacity. The first, which is the creation of God, is purely good—in the creation of God there is no evil; but the acquired capacity has become the cause of the appearance of evil.’
Time to pause for a moment. Next time I will be exploring Assagioli’s perspective in more detail, as well as looking at the three levels of body, mind and spirit along with Jenny Wade’s levels of consciousness in the context of interconnectedness. I’ll need also to explain why the heart symbol is labelled ‘understanding heart,’ the meaning of which I struggled to decode in my first months as a Bahá’í.
Complicated enough for you?
References
[1]. TA: the Total Handbook of Transactional Analysis by Woollams and Brown – page 11.
[2]. Psychosynthesis – page 17.
[3]. In an Unspoken Voice – page 249.
[4]. Op cit: page 254.
[5]. Op. cit.: page 274.
[6]. Op. cit.: page 273.
[7]. Op. cit.: page 278.
[8]. Op. cit.: page 286.
[9]. Op. cit.: page 309.
[10] Lessons from the Light – page 9.
[11] Op. cit.: pages 49-52.
[12] Paris Talks, p. 97.
Everybody Means Something 